National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1887-06-20
CLEAR SPARKLING WATER
DIR. TAIMAGE FINDS TT AN APPRoPRI.
ATE SUBJECT FOR A SERMON.
Ho Po .nts Out Remedies for tho Rec;i-
hcatlon OF Several Municipal Blum
d.rs Applicable Elsewhere Than in
the city of Churches.

BROOKLYN, June i9.-This morning at tho
Tabernacle the Rev. 4. Dc witt Talmage read
previous to the Sermon portions OF Scripture
descriptive of ancient cities. and gave out the
hymn:
Fields are white, the harvest waiting,
Who will bear the sheaves away2'
His text was "And the men of the city said
unto Elisha; Behold, pray thee, the situation
OF this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth, but
the water is naught and the ground barren
And lie said: Bring me q new cruise, and put
salt therein. And they brought II to him. Aud
he went forth unto the spring of tho waters
and cast the salt in there and said: Thus, said
the Lord, have healed these waters; there
sball not be from thence any more death or
barren land. So the waters were healed unto
this day"-Sccond Kings, H. 1922. DR.. Tai
mage said:
1t is difficult TO estimate how much OF the
prosperity and health of a city arc dependent
upon good water. The time whcn through
abundance Of water from Croton, or Ridge.
wood, or Schuylkill is brought into tue city. IL
appropriately celebrated with grafton aud
Tor clear, bright, beautiful, sparkling wstef.
as II drops in the shower, or tosses up In the
fountain, or rnshes out at the hydrant.
The city OF Jericho, notwithstanding all Its
physical and commercial advantages, was
lacking In this important clement. There was
enough water but II was diseased, and the
Elisha the prophet comes to the rescue. He
gays: get me a new cruise; I'LL It with salt and
bring II to me-" SO the cruise Of salt was
out 10 The general reservoir. and he takes that
reservoir, and lot ali the I'M I'M
divine influence, and the waters are good and
fresh and clear, and all the people clap their
hands and lit UT their faces in the gladness.
Water for Jericho, clear. bright, beautiful.
AT different times have pointed out to you
the fountains OF municipal corruption, and this
means for The rectidcation Of those fountains.
There are four or five kinds of salt that have
cleansing tendency. Solfar as God may help
me me a sna Rr ing cruise Q, salt TO the work
abominstion.
In this work Of cleansing our cities, have
broom and the shovel that nothing else can
do. There always has been an intimate con-
nection between iniquity and dirt. The filthy
ubiquitous parts. Tho cutters and pavements
OF the fourth ward, New York, illustrate aud
symbolic the character of the people in the
The first thing that bad man does when he
Is converted Is thoroughly to wash himself.
There were this morning OH the way to the diff
parel who, before their conversion were unfit In
their Sabbath dress When on the Sabbath
see a man uncleanly in his dress my suspicious
Rey oSnae are So as o.
allow no excuse for lack of nbution, God has
CLEFT the continents with rivers and lakes, and
has sunk five great oceans, and all the world
ought to be clean. Away, then, with the dirt
from our cities, not only because the physical
health needs an ablution, but because all the
great moral and religious interests of the cities
demand thv
wicked city.
Improvement our city could not be expected to
be az clean as usual, but for the illimitable
dirt OF Brooklyn for the last six months there
Is no excuse. II is not merely matter of dust
soul.
Another corrective influence that we would
bring to bear upon the evils of our great cities
is Christian PRINTING press The newspapers
OF any place are the test Of Its morality or i'm
morality, Tho newsboy who runs along the
tremendous force that cannot be turned aside
nor resisted, and at his every step the city is
elevated or degraded. This hungry, all-devour.
read, and upon editors and authors and book
publishers and parents and teachers rest the
responsibility OF what they shall read. Almost
newspaper in his pocket. What book IL
II you have in your hand? What newspaper IL
II you have In your pocket? Ministers may
may toll for the elevation Of the Suffering and
the criminal, but until oil the newspapers
Of the land and all the booksellers ~ the
Iand SET themselves against en- inlgul,ous
liteIature-until then we shall be 6ghtiGs
against fearful odds: Every time the cyllndcrs
Of our great publishing houses turn they make
the earth quake. From them goes forth n
The World, or like an angel OF darkness s'N 70
kmite II with corruption and sin and shame
and death. May God by His omnipotent Spirit
purify and elevate the American printing
60 on further and say that we must depend
upon the school for a great deal OF correcting
influence. Community can no more afford TO
have ignorant men IN us midst than 1t can
the mohertof hydra n eaded crime. Thirty-one
per cent. of all the criminals of New York state
can neither read nor write Intellectual dark
ness is generally the precursor of moral dark.
ness. / know there are educated outlaws
men who. through their sharpness of intellect,
are made more dangerous. They use their
Names and their science In ingenious bur-
glaries, and their fine manners in adroit liber-
tinism. They go their round Of sin with we'll
ts ia aSa soy:s sna Sscass
rehned, educated. magnificent villains But
that IL the exception. II is generally the case
hsy ahe Criminal Glasses are as ignorant as
80 into the prisons and the penitentiaries, and
look upon the men and women incarcerated
The dishonesty In the eye, the low passion, in
ignorance in the forehead. Tho Ignorant
classes are always the dangerous classes.
lPsmsgSsues marshal them They are helm
It is high time that all city and state author.
tiles, as well as theefederal government, ap-
preciate the awful statistics that while years
Sgo In u s country there was set apart $1,000
are now In New England l9l 600 people who
can neither read nor write, and In the state of
pennsylvania 22,COO who can neither read
nor write, and the state OF New York 2il, 900
who can neither read nor write, while Ia the
United States there are nearly 6,000,00O who
can neither read ner write. Statistics enough
his God and his country. Now, In view OF
this fact, am In favor Of compulsory educa-
ton. When parents are so beastial as to neglect
strong hand, at the same time with gentle
hand, ought to lead these little ones into the
light Of Intelligence and good morals. It was
policeman, having picked up lost child in the
street, was found appeasing Its cries with a
stick Of candy he had bought at the apple
done. But OH these thousands OF little ones
through our streets who are crying for the
bread OF knowledge and Intelligence Shall
we not give y to them2 The officers of the law
the garrets, and bring out these benighted little
ones and put them under educational in6u-
ences after they have passed through the bath
and under the comb, putting before them the
spelling book and teaching them to read the
Lords Prayer and the sermon on the mount:
kingdom of heaven" Our city ought TO he
father and mother both to these outcast little
ones. As recipe for the cure OF much of the
woe and want and crime OF our city l give the
words which Thorwaldsen had chiseled on the
open scroll in the hand OF the statue OF John
Gutenberg, the inventor Of the art OF printing;
"LettheIe be light"
Still further. Reformatory societies are An
important element IN the rectifcation Of the
public fountains Without calling any of
them by name, refer more especially TO those
which recognize the physical as well as the
moral woes OF the world. There was pathos
and great deal OF common sense In what the
poor woman said TO DR.. Guthrie when he was
telling her what q very good Woman She